Pony runners faced the best

There is no cross country meet that has tougher competition than the Mountain West Classic and this past weekend, the Havre High cross country teams figured out just how difficult it is.

Competing at the University Golf Course at Missoula Saturday, the Blue Ponies went head-to-head against the top runners from Montana as well as runners from Idaho and Washington. There were 53 teams on the boy’s side and 44 on the girl’s from all classifications.

Up against such difficult competition the Havre girls finished No. 40 overall, while the Pony boys finished at No. 46 overall. The boy’s event was won by Glacier high school of Kalispell. On the girl’s side, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, took home the top spot.

The two overall winners at the meet were Annie Hill of Glacier for the girl’s with a time of 16:39. The top individual on the boy’s side of things was Brody Smith of Cody, Wyoming, with a time of 15:07.

Rachel David was the top runner for the Ponies and had the best overall finish. She posted a time of 20:52 and finished No. 102 overall. After David, the next best finisher for the Pony girls was Tori Mazurkiewicz, who finished No. 276 overall with a time of 24:17. Finishing at No.288 overall, with a time of 24:33 was Rainey Stoner.

Marca Herron finished No.290 overall with a time of 24:37 and rounding things out for the HHS girls included Maggie Zook at No. 296 overall with a time of 25:02, Maya Reed, who finished No. 297 overall with a time of 25:02 and Rachel Majeres, who finished No. 350 overall with a time of 27:29.

“I thought the girls ran well,” HHS head coach Darci Heninger said. “Rachel did really well for us, she finished 102 out of 337 girls, so I think that is really good. We need to work on our pack time, we had a difference of over four minutes. So we need to get our pack times down if we want to compete at divisionals.

The HHS boys, who also had very elite level competition, also struggled. Yet, one bright spot was the solid performance by Brandon Robertson, who finished No. 227 overall with a time 18:05.

Brock Ross also had a solid performance for HHS, finishing No. 241 overall with a time of 18:19. Jaime Lieberg finished No. 273 overall and posted a time of 18:48.

The rest of the HHS varsity runners included Sundance Lodge, who finished at No. 291 overall with a time of 19:06, Cameron Knapton, who finished No. 295 with a time of 19:13, Austin Jones, who finished No. 340 overall with a time of 20:22 and Dylan Stewart, who finished No. 350 overall with a time of 20:29.

“The boys also need to work on their pack time but they went up against some amazing competition,” Heninger said. “There were some amazing runners there. Brandon has been working really hard and he is improving every week but he needs to get his time down if he wants to place at state.”

Even though the Ponies didn’t place highly at the Mountain West Classic, running against the kind of top-notch competition that HHS saw this weekend will only make the team better in the long haul.

“In the long run, I think it will make us better,” Heninger said. “The nice thing is you run against the runners you will need to beat at state. So you can see what you need to do to get better and focusing on getter better with each race.”

The Ponies will be back in action today when they travel to compete in the Browning Invitational, then HHS will be in Lewistown this Friday for the Lewistown Invitational.

Mountain West Classic

at University of Montana Golf Course

BOYS

Team scores: 1, Kalispell Glacier 124; 2, University 135; 3, Helena 160; 4, Bozeman 185; 5, Missoula Hellgate 209; 6, Lewis & Clark 210; 7, Mead 221; 8, Lake City 227; 9, Hillcrest 248; 10, Kalispell Flathead 303; 11, Billings Senior 314; 12, Gonzaga Prep 349; 13, Corvallis 398; 14, Hamilton 403; 15, Billings West 407; 16, Deer Park 421; 17, Coeur d'Alene 492; 18, Great Falls CMR 539; 19, Laurel 563; 20, Red Lodge 618; 21, Billings Skyview 630; 22, Cody 705; 23, Manhattan 709; 24, Missoula Sentinel 710; 25, Belgrade 738.26, Helena Capital 753; 27, Hardin 763; 28, Post Falls 819; 29, Frenchtown 831; 30, Browning 867; 31, Glendive 942; 32, Shelby 952; 33, Lewistown 953; 34, Dillon 968; 35, Great Falls 979; 36, Whitefish 1010; 37, Townsend 1042; 38, Lakeland 1069; 39, Butte 1091; 40, Billings Central 1199; t-41, Loyola Sacred Heart 1222; t-41, Ronan 1222; 43, Eureka 1227; 44, Butte Central 1246; 45, Missoula Big Sky 1257; 46, Havre 1265; 47, Polson 1317; 48, Livingston 1363; 49, Cut Bank 1387; 50, Columbia Falls 1400; 51, Darby 1464; 52, Whitehall 1488; 53, Libby 1639.

Havre – 227. Brandon Robertson, 18:05; 241. Brock Ross, 18:19; 273. Jamie Lieberg, 18:48; 291. Sundance Lodge, 19:06; 295. Cameron Knapton, 19:13; 340. Austin Jones, 20:22; 350. Dylan Stewart, 20:29.

GIRLS

Team scores: 1, Coeur d'Alene 110; 2, Bozeman 121; 3, Missoula Hellgate 154; 4, Lewis & Clark 164; 5, Kalispell Flathead 175; 6, Missoula Sentinel 198; 7, Kalispell Glacier 264; 8, Billings Senior 278; 9, Mead 305; 10, Hillcrest 325; 11, Billings West 365; t-12, Gonzaga Prep 373; t-12, Cody 373; 14, Corvallis 416; 15, Billings Skyview 449; 16, Helena 493; 17, Deer Park 533; 18, University 546; 19, Hamilton 613; 20, Great Falls CMR 664; 21, Whitefish 665; 22, Hardin 668; 23, Helena Capital 675; 24, Post Falls 702; 25, Manhattan 725. 26, Polson 727; 27, East Valley 738; 28, Lewistown 767; 29, Red Lodge 783; 30, Columbia Falls 786; 31, Missoula Big Sky 816; 32, Billings Central 868; 33, Great Falls 921; 34, Dillon 956; 35, Loyola Sacred Heart 962; 36, Belgrade 963; 37, Eureka 984; 38, Livingston 1074; 39, Lakeland 1075; 40, Havre 1105; 41, Belt 1140; 42, Browning 1211; 43, Lake City 1227; 44, Ronan 1251.

Havre – 107. Rachel Davd, 20:52; 276. Tori Mazurkiewicz, 24:17; 288. Rainey Stoner, 24:33; 290. Marca Herron, 24:37; 296. Maggie Zook, 25:02; 297. Maya Reed, 25:05; 319. Rachel Majeres, 27:29.